The state of Pernambuco, with only one town of any size, and that the capital, has a school enrolment of only twenty-two thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in a reported population of one million three hundred and ten thousand. More comparisons might be made, but with these explanations the reader can figure them out from the table.[2] [Illustration: A SCHOOL FOR BOYS IN SÃO PAULO.] The school instruction, except in the Federal District and the professional schools, is in the hands of the various states. In none of them does a compulsory educational law exist, and, if it did, the facilities do not exist to take care of those of school age who would thus be obliged to attend. As will be seen by the comparisons the provisions for instruction and the illiteracy vary much in the different states. Some of the states are richer than others, and can afford to spend more money for public requirements, and others are naturally more progressive. All of the schools in the various states are modelled on the same general plan. I have chosen those of São Paulo for illustration, because that state has made better progress along educational lines than the others, and because I made a special study of the school system of that state. [Illustration: A SCHOOL FOR GIRLS IN SÃO PAULO.] The schools are divided into three classes: primary, secondary and superior. The primary schools are again divided into preliminary and complementary instruction. The preliminary instruction is given in ungraded schools, and the law requires the establishment of an ungraded school in every community where there are from twenty to forty pupils of school age, although this has not always been done. Where there are six or more of these schools, a “school group” may be established, in which teaching is graded. In this state there are about eighty of these school groups. In addition there are a number of night schools where similar instruction is given to those who are unable to attend the day schools, or who have passed the school age and lacked the opportunity for an education in their youthful days. Of these there are thirty-four in the state at the present time. A few free kindergarten schools are also maintained in the capital, but this feature of instruction has not been developed much as yet.